Suction cleaner



H. B. WHITE SUCTION CLEANER Aug. 29, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed Sept. 24, 1945 Aug- 29, 1950 v H. B. WHITE 2,520,589

SUCTION CLEANER Original Filed Sept. 24, 1945 2 Sheefcs-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Harry B.Whde

Fig. 7 @uM/sf@ Patented Aug. 29, 1950 UNITED ASTATES PAT-ENroFFlcE SUCTION CLEANER Harry B. White, Canton, O hio, assigner to TheV Hoover Company, Northllantcn,v Ohio, a corl poration of Ohio Y Original application September 2li, 1943, Serial Y No. 503,631. Divided and this application October 17, 1945, Serial N0. 622,711

. l `This application is a division of my co-pending application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 503,631, filed'. Septembery 24, 1943 (now Patent No. 2,400,217, dated May 14, 1946).

f The present invention relates to suction cleaners in general and more particularlynto a new and novel arrangement of parts and construc-r tional features and improvements in design in a suction cleaner of the type embodying selfcleaning lter means `More particularly, the invention relates to a suction cleaner of the type` in which foreign material in the dirt-laden airstream is removed by passage through a plurality of dirt separators and in which an airdriven turbine -is provided towactuate a filtercleaning nozzle in ,one of the dirt separators.

Itis an object ofthe present invention to provide a new and improved suction cleaner. It is another object of the invention to provide a new and improved suction cleaner having an airturbine-driven filter-cleaning nozzle. A still further object of the invention is to provide a suction cleanerof the Vtype incorporating an initial dirt separator, suctionfcreating means, a final .dirt separator, and means to clean the final dirt separator and to return the dirt therefrom tothe initial dirt separator, said last-mentioned means including an air-driven turbine-actuated filter-cleaning nozzle. Another object of the invention is to provide new and novel means to actuate .a filter-cleaning nozzle in a suction cleaner. A further object of the invention is to provide new and novel means to actuate a filtercleaning nozzle in a suction cleaner and including fluid drive means. These 'and other more specific objects will appear upon reading the following specification and claims and upon considering in connection therewith the attached drawingsV to which they relate. 1

Referring now to the drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed, and in which the same reference characterrefers to the same parts in the various views: y, -Figure 1 is af longitudinal vertical section through' a suction cleaner constructed in accordance with apreferred embodiment of the invention;Y A

'-Figure -2 is a section through the construction of Figure 1 upon the line 2 2; 1'.1Il=igure 3 is a section through the construction of'Figure 1 upon the line 3 3; Y v -l- -Figure'fi is a section taken upon the lineal- .4 #Figure 1:l j

2 claims. v (C1. 13a- 35) recognized'that in time this final filter wouldv 2 Figure 5 is a section upon 5--5 of Figure 1 Figure 6 is a section upon theline 6--6 of Fig-v ure Y2 and shows thebellows-actuated electrical switchI which control's'the electrical solenoids which in turn control the movement of and the air f low through the filter-cleaning nozzle.

Figure A'l is a side elevation,`partly in section,

showing the construction of the clutch friction Wheel; and! Figure 8 -is a diagrammatic view illustrating the electricalcircuit by which the filter-cleaning meansv are automatically placed in voperation when the` back lygiressu're of the a'p'redete'rmined degree. A

" The 'patent to Bible 2,247,472 discloses annew and important development in the field of suc' tion cleaners. That patent discloses a suction cleaner ini which the r dirt--laden air stream. through'th'e suction'cleaner is initially cleaned in a d irt separator of the centrifugal'type, the cleaned airtheribeingl 'passed by the Vsuction-- creating Ir'ie'a'ns vinto a finaldirt separator compr'ifsin'g a filter which removes all of the escaped foreign material from the air stream; Mr. Bible require 4cleaningand'provided a filter-cleaning nozzle'v which was hand-actuated and which was manually'con'nected to the inlet of the machine by the operator.

The present invention comprisesla step for-jv wardfin the art and provides the same basic functional construction taught by VBible but with improvements in the drive of the filter-cleaning nozzle and in the automaticoperation thereof.

- Mo1 "e,speciflcally, according to the present invention, theA filter-cleaning nozzle vi s automatically .operated whenever the hack pressure of the final filter increases Yto such an extent as to indicate that it should be cleaned. When this conditionarises an air-driven turbine, driven by theflow of air which passes through the main suction-creating means ofthe cleaner, drives the filter-cleaning nozzle through speed-reducing means ywhich areeifective to reduce the motorV speed, which is something over 10,000 R. P. M.,.

towa'speed'of'nozzle rotation of something ap-f pro'ximating .'10 R. P. M. The operator, accordthe disjointed uneV filter increases to K ffxteryldirigidw betw .Y n *i spaced' Walls. '5 andi is asmallercasing il Bgwhich' serves to'sup'portfa'n exteriorlsurfacfe 'o f t Venters'ithedischarge'chtrnherty` f accomplished as dirt, dust, etc. is easily displaced from a metallic container.Y Suchcleaning is not objectionable inthe same degreeV that the cleaning of the lter or filter bag of the usual cleaner is objectionable.

Referring again ,to thegdrawingsgtheunain .cas-

Ving Vof the`cle`aner `vis seen to comprise a cylindri-n cal body I which extends with its major axis arpranged horizontally. The opposite Vends of cy# lindrical body IV are closed by removableoversu@ 2 and 3 each of which is formed with a dusting tool seat indicated. at 4 andv),1espen tiffelt,Y

Three transverse Walls 6, 1 and 8 are arranged Within the main body I `in the order named fom the-inlet .port k tothe, exhaust port y5.. These Walls "support the WorkingA i parts 1of thenitchine as willbe hereinafter more fullyA setfprth.

` aiw rifcihamber Hwhichisicynndricarfof adistance l'from the wan stand', then t is' 'formed as a i truncated cone. Whirl .chamber- H rtp'ens ,into

the .casing 'I 4lwetween ,the wall'f and-the cover '-2,' the.,latter being vformetitl/,lith an integral pan 'vor wf ich" Vare adapted to receive and'seat removably-'teiy cleaner end of a dusting tool hose of atype common and Well known in theaaarit. lortl com-L fprisesthe inlet or suction opening-while;..pont 5.; t f comprises the exhaust port.

receptacle l2 `which 'extends inwardlyjunderth'e whirl Chamberland to a position substantiallyadia'fcelntfthewal 6. 'Whllihcmbr fl islialseine terly cbnnected. tothe inietpbrt#ibymerivf a; thgentally emndihjg' passageway.- 13.- which' opens intolthe cylindricalfp 'tion off' t e'..whi'rl chamber of .maximum diameter and'jwhich; at a point. spaced fromfitsrentrance intov the nWhirl cha ber, `extends5forwardly "and alongjthg jex:

by the pover z'andw'hih rcrmjs the; continuation oftneinieti; i i

motor l 7 ,and-'also provides the r"casf jacentfsuction-creatingfan;Chamb Y. v Y Wis fedlifdadjacentthe Supp0r`tihe-w'al11-nd at the sidejiof thegmotor: ffto fqrin a; journal The 'fan chamben'l'i?isidividdfint Vaii mid-.into .a Second Stagelbyaxe .mul @ne deector 2l Yandv rotating 'fans 22 are'positioned Wit-H 'ag strainer l2"i atitsfouterfend tirgzvrevent'thel l entrance-#into the 'fan of anysiygatie...ma

terial,""1he exhaust portsy of the fanchamber, arev -f'indicated at `'28' `and permit the; air 'passing through the' fan chamber to exhaust into the 1 spaceY surroundingith'e chamber'andmoton' ccmprise's afseondditseparaton an terrpasse ing fradiauyand outwardly thrcugntne filter '3 3,'

Aj' discharge yo :rt connects 23 opposite to that upon which the main suctioncreating fans are mounted. It is clear that the suction-creating eiects of the fans 22 and of the fan 38 are cumulative, that is, fan 38 draws the air through the filter 33 Whilethe fans 22 force itftherethrgugh.' v v'l 'Y f Y To clean the interior surface of the nal filter 33, which although handling cleaned air, will in ltime become sumciently dirty as to require cleaning, there is provided a rotatable filter-cleaning nozzle 4l which is provided with an elongated mouth denedrby @liter-contacting lips along the side thereof 'and which itself interiorly communicates andis mounted upon a hollow ring 5112..;seated.rctadnalcly.upon the journal I9. Ring 42 infiactormsapart of the filter-cleaning nozzle' assembly and is provided with an open side facing. .the wall 1. Ports 43 in wall 1 directly connect the ring and lter-cleaning nozzle to a circular passagewaylllwhich encircles the rngtor Shareup@ the @were Sue: 'ffwanii A Vertical extension 46 @of passagewayc #24j 2leads' an upper "portdl rvin .saine Wall; latter porta conduit 48e 'ends lforwardly above theY lrno'i'for-fan Y 'uniti and 4ufifhi'i1-' the discharge chamber z32,',l forwardly through -the Wajll'i :to c c'inney ted to :thev junction of the inlet conduitlfltfl andtheftvhirl cham riti; Gondu asr'mad ef"ru-bloei',v although itis-tti beundre stodl't 'tf-this isinotlabsolutly essential. order thatthe'iilter-cleaning xnozzle #ilfcan Contact the enti-re rinner surface "of the 'filter` 31,@ it vnecessarythat', i-t frnoved-vtherearound and to accomplish thisl fesultlpowrltransmission.and? speed-reducing means are? provided.` means: are yactuated by the second suction-'-'ciieating-ian'r 38 by meanscf an-.airfturlcine. .5] 'Turbine 51.' isA positioned ecircumterentially around fani and is providedaroundits periphery with ase@ riesaof i-spaced' motel-ies 1:52 which xconnect'ldirectly.

t :relativelysmall Ipcntsift cin; thetbackwall eci thev turbineLto provide .eihaustzpassageways'for the airpassing.. through the fan.. Theairarter passing through the .ipo'rtsz 'fmafkics lits W'aytastl the adiacentwall gratttheenlamgedeport .54,

passes iout to the .ambient atmosphere :through Y theaendznoyer at :therdischarge'port Theair turbine :151 is itselfv supportedzny '.a. shaft 256 [nare ried ai; Suitable.; tjfilllmal or l nearing: 3in (the :Wall Upon hitsiolnosite end-fthe, shaft 5.61pm# riesgafsmall .diameter Vgpnlleygipinion 58. Ata'il times .during .the.operationpfethemachineandupon th-.e rotation. ofthe fmctcrethereof..theipase Sage 'ofzfar through the suction-creatingianzzf1 effects the rotation of ,turbine .15|urhic'ht intnrn.drivesthavfnulleyipinicn-.

Y. Between thezair .turbineedriyen ventiler @im Y mese nacid- Y l spaced from' the pinion. During nozzle operation',l however, the action of the spring 64 is overcome by an energized solenoid 61, the armature" 68-5of which connects to the lever 62. In the nozzledriving relation of the friction' wheel 6|, illustrated in Figure 3, the wheel 6I is in contact with the pinion 58 and also Iin contactfwith Ia largediameter V-pulley 69 rotatably mounted upon a shaft 'II carried by a suitable journal l2 in the wall 8. Upon the opposite end ofthe I?? shaft II is positioned a very small diameter pinion gear 13 which is, of course, rotated whenever the large diameter V-pulley 69 rotates.V Small gear 'I3 in turn rotates and drives, asis clearly shown in Figure 4, a large diameter gear Wheel 'I6 carried by a shaft 'I'I which is suitably mounted for rotation in walls 1 and 8. The opposite end of shaft I1 extends into thefilter chamber 3| where it is provided with a final small diameterY pinion gear 'I8 and this last and nal pinion gear meshes with a ring gear 'I9 which is mounted on the ring passageway 42 of the Aiilter--cleaning nozzle 4|.

"The parts described connectingthealr turbine `5| tothe final ring gear I9 effect the .rotation of the filter-cleaning nozzle when the friction gear 6|, which together with the V-pulleys 5l and 68 `comprises a clutch, is inthe closed or nozzle-operating position. An additional feature which aids in 'the effective operation of the device comprises the construction of the friction Wheel 6| which is illustrated in Figure '7 and which is seen to comprise an outer surface coating of material of suitable frictional quality, such as rubber, indicated at 8|, which is preferably cemented on to the surface of the wheel proper and is additionally secured on innersurfaces by suitable snap rings 82, as illustrated.

-To eiect the operation ofthe cleaner proper therel .is provided a manuallyl operableiswitch 86, see Figures 1 and 8, in series withcne-ofthe incoming current-conducting leads lwhich con- -nect to the motorr I 1. As in the usual lcleaner the operator closes the switch 86rwhen he desires the machine to operate,'rst having connected the current-conducting leads` 81 to aV suitable source of current. In the present cleaner, however, additional means are required to effect the operation of the filter-cleaning nozzle under predetermined circumstances comprising the building up of a back pressure within the yfinal filter of a predetermined extent. These means comprise in the first instance an expansible pressureactuated bellows 9|, see Figures 6 Vand 8, which is interiorly connected, as is illustrated in Figure 6, to the final filter chamber 3|.v The movable end wall of bellows 9| connects to a shaft 92 slidably mounted in a xed vbracket 93 and 'is connected at its opposite end to the lever of Ia, two-position snap switch 94 which may be similar to the manually operable switch 86 but is normallybiased to open position. 'I'he bellows and the switch comprise a unit which is positioned within an enclosing housing 96 for protective reasons, the unit being positioned within the space open to the dirt container I2. Switch 94 is normally biased to open position under the action of a suitable spring as illustrated in the diagrammatic Figure 8 but, upon the expansion Solenoid 61 functions to move the fricnon wheel si to its dutch-closed' position, as

illustrated'in Figure 3, in which the lter-,cleani The second solenoid 98 ing nozzle operates. has not been described and functions when energized, to move the valve 99 from its dotted line position, as illustrated in Figure 2, to its full line position. Normally valve 99 closes the conduit 48 leading to thenozzle 4| from the whirl cham-4 ber II, butwhen-the valve is moved toits fullI line position conduit 48, and so the filter-cleaning nozzle 4|, is directly connected interiorly to the whirl chamber II, while the inlet port 4 is substantially sealedY therefrom with the exception of la slight leakage past the valve which is permitted by lvirtue of the presence of one or more small lugs |0| kwhich prevent the valve from closing entirely. This small leakage of air is necessary in order to make up for air which passes from` the machine by virtue of having passed through the second fan unit 38.

M'vIhe operation o f the cleaner which has been described is as follows. A normal dusting tool hose of Vany preferred design will be attached to the inlet port 4 and upon the operator closing the Yswitchv 86 to the closed position, illustrated in full lines in Figure 8, current will flow through the driving motor theshaft of which will rotate togetherwith the fans 22 and 38 carried thereby. The high speed rotation of the fans 22 causes air to be drawn through the dusting tool hose, which isindicated in Figurel at I5, through the conduits I4 and i3 and tangentially into the whirl chamber The high speed circular rotation ofthe air stream within the whirl chamber causesv the foreign material to be thrown radially outwardly and it moves forwardly and fromthe open forward end of the chamber I I to drop into the dir-t receptacle I2 extended thereunder. The air, withnearly all of the foreign material removed, passes through the strainer 21 and into the inlet`- 25 `on its way into the fan chamber I8. After passingk through both stages of the fan unit the air is exhausted through thev ports 28 into` the' second dirt separator comprising the filter chamber 3| and the surrounding enclosing lter 33,v The air passes through the filter chamber 43| outwardly intov the discharge .chamber 32 and anyvforeign Vmaterialwhich did 4Vescape from thewhirl chamber I I, comprising theinitial separator, is removed by the air-pervious lter 33. The air within the ydischarge chamber 32 passes, under the positive pressure ofthe exhaust of the fansv 22 and also under -the Vaction of the suction of the fanI 38, from the discharge chamber 32 through the port `34 and via the passageway 36 into the second fan 38. The air-moving effect of this second fan is additive to that of the rst fan unit and results in an increased flow ofv air through the machine. When the machine isv being used in surface cleaning only and when the .lter-cleaning nozzle is not in operation, all of the air passes from discharge chamber "32 into the second fan 33 and is exhausted radially therefrom. and passes out through the ports53 in the rotating air turbine 5I to make its way from the machine via the port 54 and finally through the exhaust port 5.

The machine will operate as described for an extended period of time without operation of the Ifilter-cleaning nozzle mechanism until nally the collected foreign material upon the inner surface of the filter 33' results in an undue increase in the resistance to the ow of air therethrough, known as an increase in the back pressure. This increase in the back pressure is immediately iastate@ Witheet -enaini ne lgwcengmmies toftneaiuiluneepos :1

finie melanie-eaten" intente met 1v e :mieten-them ing'tdornose whirtfohanber f and" said'i casing',- -and conduit meane-onisaid 'cover connected 4to lsaid Whirl 2; In 1-a suction cleaner,"` suction'creating; means, a casing, a removable cover for an f opem in'gl'irrs'a'dlV casing; afdirtereceptacle 'fin A'said casing attached ft sfa-idf';coi/erV and removably-inserted forfn -a char'len therebetween, Y'an exit .poiftvin eliminate. it. The @ovv-0fn alfY throuh; the 4`dust-f the inlet; :t:I permits air to enter tm'rrakealp'v 'fori tion'gtov-gopen position,V that'.illustrated2in dotted Y Pirat-ioni02,1110@v iltercleaning nozzle'. .and f the pas" Saget ai therethrough thereupon.; etape-,eend

dirt-operator including 5a Whiil chamber. formed saiddirt 4fdistlfrargef outlet and being otherwise closedfsaiddirt receptacleolisposed -below said Whir1= *chamber-andi: extending -beyond said -drt discharge outlet '1 to"l col1ect"the rdirt dischargedY 11 *communicating* with fsaicl:fsuctiorremeeV 

